Browsing by Person "Hoinle, Birgit"

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Food justice in public-catering places: mapping social-ecological inequalities in the urban food systems
(2023) Hoinle, Birgit; Klosterkamp, Sarah
Departing from reflections and observations raised by Food Policy Councils (FPCs) within North America specifically, this article explores the complex material, discursive, and governance aspects of food provision on the urban-regional scale by highlighting recent accounts of public food provision within state-funded public-catering places in Germany. Based on a fieldwork in Southern Germany, and grounded in a methodological approach guided by participatory action research (PAR), participatory observation, feminist GIS, and 17 interviews with different actors within the regional food systems involved we would like to form the basis for pushing these new approaches further toward more food democracy and food justice as we are elevating the key factors and rewards, but also the downsides and challenges of food provision in public catering places regarding social-ecological inequalities. In doing so, the global intimacies of the urban food system on the local scale, their different modes of inclusions and exclusions, and their intersections of inequalities are unpacked by also shifting the focus to the economic and political entanglements at stake within the global sphere of food provision. By amplifying how producers, meal providers, and consumers within the urban food systems perceive (and perhaps contradict) issues of food justice and by coalescing their perspectives about local food system transformations and desires toward food justice and sustainability, not only the challenges at place but also the promises of hope within public-catering places are illustrated.
Just Food for kids? School food management models and sustainable procurement in France and Germany
(2025) Hoinle, Birgit; Parot, Jocelyn
Biodiversity loss, climate change, rising indices of food insecurity, and increasing amounts of food waste underscore the need for a transition toward more sustainable and just food systems. Public food procurement can be considered an important leverage point in sustainable transition processes. Based on a conceptual framework that combines sustainability, just transition, and the role of public food procurement, this study focuses on the role of municipalities in France (Normandy and Brittany) and Germany (Bavaria and Baden‐Württemberg) and analyzes their sustainability efforts. Seventeen urban and rural municipalities have been selected as they all engage with the issue of sustainable food but employ a variety of different models of school food management. Our methodology is based on a comparative approach, combining literature analysis and qualitative expert interviews with stakeholders from French and German local municipalities. Our analysis focuses on the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability, including organic share, food waste, local food, accessibility, diversity, education, and participation. Our research aim is to identify potentials and challenges in just food system transitions and appropriate policy measures for promoting sustainable public procurement in school canteens. The results show that direct public management models, that are not externalized through outsourcing to private catering companies, have more potential for defining high organic standards and for integrating local food into regional value chains.